Construction of walls



Nov. 18, 1941. M. FOULD CONSTRUCTION OF WALLS Filed Jan. 28, 1938 such as cement, plaster, a

y' Patented Nov. 18, 1941 Maurice Fould, Paris, France, assignor to (Societe Anonyme),

de Strasbourg Forges Paris,

l France, a company of France Application January 28, 1938, Serial No. 187,515 .In France January 6, 1938 Claims.

The present invention relates to the construction of walls, partitions, orthe like in such manner as to obtain buildings which can be taken to pieces in a minimum period of time and which can alsobe assembled in an extremely short time, as compared with the timenecessary for the erection of ordinary buildings.

The chief object of the present invention is to permit the construction of such walls or other building elements without any humid binder,- so that, as soon as the building is completed, it can be occupied without any delay.

'Ihe essential feature of the present invention consists in dispensing with the 'framework or Iskeleton which, up to this time, had to be made in advance before buildingv the wall or other ele'- ment proper, and in constituting said wall or other element directly by mere assembly or en- -gagement of panels manufactured in advance,'

each of these panels including the combination into a single block of all the elements necessary for making a wall, to wit the outer facing, the carrying element of high mechanical resistance,

the inner facing, and eventually the insulating Another feature of the present invention lies in the structure of the panels entering into the constitution of the wall or other building element. According to a particularly advantageous embodiment of the invention, the carrying element of high resistance of these panels consists of a metallic plate, for instance made of a metal sheet, which constitutes one of the faces of the panel, preferably the outer face thereof and the joints of which serve to assemble the panels together in'a fluid-tight manner. Advantageously, these joints are made in the manner set forth in U. S. patent application Ser. No. 63,952, led February 14, 1936, now Patent INO. 2,164,681, granted July 4, 1939, which permits of instantaneously assembling together and taking to pieces the structure obtained with these panels by merely pivoting them with respect to one another.

According to a still more specific embodiment of the present invention, each elementary panel is constituted by the combination of themetallic' plate above mentioned and of a light and' insulating pugging consisting for instance of at least one layer of fabric shaped in such manner .as to have a high moment of inertia and made rigid by impregnation and coating with an incombustible and plastic composition of matter,

paste consisting chiefly of refractory materials, and so on,

in the co-pending application Ser. No. 187,516, filed of even date.

In addition to the advantages resulting from the great rapidity of assembly of the elements, panels of this kind are of an extremely light weight and relatively cheap to manufacture.

The usual panels intended to constitute the walls of a building are preferably made of a height `corresponding to the whole height of a floor, the floorings being for instance assembled to the walls thus obtained by means of L-shaped sectional irons or of any other shape of sectional irons suited for this purpose.

Other features of the present invention will result from the following detailed description of some specific embodiments thereof.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described, with reference to the accompanying drawing, given merely by way of example, and in which: l

1 is a perspective view of portions of two panels assembled with each other, the whole according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front view illustrating the assembly of these two panels;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a panel 'according to the present invention, on the line III- III `of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a transverse horizontal section of the assembly of the two panels according to the invention, on the line IV-IV of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the assembly of the two portions of panels seen from the side opposed to that considered in Fig. 2.

The carrying frame of each panel is constituted by a sheet iron plate l, which constitutes the outer facing thereof and may accordingly be coated with paint or any coating imitating stone. 'Ihe longitudinal edges of this platel are respectively given the shape .of a male and female gutter, as shown at 2 and 3 respectively, as set forth in the prior U. S. patent above referred to.

The side of the panel which provides the inner 4able material, this pugging element being coraS described rugated or zig-zag shaped and adhering strongly to walls I and 4 by means, for instance of a special glue of a known type, consisting chiefly of an alkaline silicate and magnesium carbonate, with the addition of glass powder and asbestos fibers, or by means of a glue consisting chieiiy of casein and lime.

Pugging 5 may be shaped in a press or in a. mould of suitable shape. The cavities or recesses existing therein may be either wholly or partly lled with an insulating matter such as cork powder, glass wool and the like.

The panel-is surrounded by an edging 6 which provides the side or edge surfaces of the panel which may be made of the same material as side 4 and which is also fixed by gluing to plate I. Preferably, this edging is provided, on the side of the male assembly edge, with a cavity or recess 1 intended to prevent transmission of heat and sound in the same manner as the recesses formed in pugging 5.

On the side of the female assembly edge, the edging 6 carries a butt strip made of bent metal sheet 8 the inner edge of which is preferably held apart from the inner edge of gutter 3 so as to avoid also transmission of heat, and more especially of sound. This butt strip, which is apparent on the inner face of the wall has a decorative appearance and it completes the air-tightness of the assembly.

I he taking to pieces of the panels assembled as shown by Fig. 1 is performed by mere relative pivoting of two panels in the direction of arrow f, and their assembly is effected by engaging the male edge 2 of one of the panels into the female edge 3 of the other, after which these two panels l are pivoted relatively to each other in a direction opposed to that shown by arrow j. The position of correct assembly is ensured by the provision of an abutment-9 provided on the female gutter 3 and by the contact of the edges of plates 4 with theother face of the wall.

While I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be practical and eiiicient embodiunderstood that I do not-wish to be limited thereto, as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition, a'nd form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope 'of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A prefabricated rectangular panel of rectangular cross-section, for the construction of walls, which comprises, 'in combination, a. rigid metal plate, and a marginally flanged open boxshaped slab of a non-metallic building material having its marginal flange fixed against the metal plate, so as to form together a closed box-like structure,'said plate providing one face of the panel and said slab the other, one edge of said panel being provided with a gutter formed in the thickness thereof and opening outwardly, and a flange carried by said panel along the opposite edge thereof and adapted to lit in the gutter of a similar adjoining panel for assembly therewith.

2. A prefabricated rectangular panel of rectangular cross-section, for the construction of ments of the present invention, it should be well walls, which comprises, in combination, a rigid l said plate providing one face of the panel and said slab the other, said metal plate being formed at one edge into a gutter runningalong one side of said panel, within the thickness thereof, said plate being also formed, at the opposite edge, with a flange running along the opposite side of said panel and projecting from the edge thereof, said flange being of a shape corresponding to said gutter so as to be able to iit in the gutter of a similar adjoining panel for assembly therewith.

3. A prefabricated' rectangular panel of rectangular cross-section, for the construction of walls, which comprises, in combination, a. rigid metal plate, and a marginally flanged open boxshaped slab of a non-metallic building material rigidly assembled with said plate', Awith its marginal flange applied against the metal plate so as to form therewith a closed box-like structure, said plate providing one face of the panel and said slab the other, said metal plate being formed at one edge into a gutter running along one side of said panel, within the thickness thereof, said plate being also formed, at the opposite edge, with an arcuate flange running along the opposite side of said panel and projecting from thel edge thereof, said gutter being partly closed so as vto have only a slot-like aperture, and having a curved inner wall of a shape corresponding to that of said flange, so as to permit of introducing said flange into the gutter. of a similar adjoining panel and of sliding it, with a hinge-like movement, along the curved wall of said gutter, the edges of the respective panels adjacent to said flange and said gutter being shaped to form abutments for stopping said hinge-like movement when the panels are brought into their desired relative positions.

4. A prefabricated rectangular panel of rectangular cross-section, for the construction oi walls, which comprises, in combination, a rigid metal plate, and a anged open box-shaped slab of a non-metallic building material rigidly vassembled with said plate, with its flange applied against said metal plate so as to form therewith a closed box-like structure, said plate providing one face of the panel and said slab the other, said metal plate being formed at one edge into a gutter running along one side of said panel, said plate being also formed, at the opposite edge, with an arcuate iiange running along the op-l posite side of said panel and projecting from the edge thereof, said slab being provided, along the rst mentioned side of said panel, with a housing for said gutter, said gutter being partly closed so asto have only a. slot-like aperture opening'outwardly from the face of said metal plate and having a curved inner wall of a shape corresponding to the arcuate shape of said flange, so as to permit of introducing said flange into the gutter of a similar adjoining panel and of sliding it, with a hinge-like movement, along the curved wall of said gutter, the edges of the respective panels which are adjacent to said anges and said gutter respectively being shaped to form abutments for stopping said hinge-like movement and suitably to position said panels with respect to each other once they have been brought into their desired relative positions.

5. A prefabricated rectangular panel of rectangular cross section, providing iront, rear, and oppositely disposed side faces, for use in the construction of walls, partitions or like building structures, said panel comprising, in combination,

a rigid sheet metal plate and a rigid self-supporting slab of non-metallic building material secured together in parallel relationship, said plate and said slab providing one or the other of said front and rearfaces of said panel, the opof the panel and provided with an angular ange adapted to overlie the adjacent edge of an adjoining panel in the completed structure, the sealing strip and the metal face plate of the panel 5 being spaced apart to provide an insulating gap.

MAURICE FOULD. 

